by Dawn Ryder
The Shadow Ops teams held the line against corruption at the highest levels of government. They were the underdog, with the exception of one major point. Truth was on their side, and they were men who measured themselves against the idea of honor.
It was go time.
* * *
“Looks like Miranda is a tough old bird after all,” Mason Kingston muttered toward Carl Davis.
Inside a private lobby, both men were waiting for another political event. Mason was watching the coverage of Miranda standing at a podium in another state, one that had the name of Carl’s rival, Tom Hilliard, on it.
“Too stupid to learn when to get out of the way of the rest of the herd,” Carl shot back at Mason.
Mason offered Carl a nod and a smile. “Still, you’ve got to hand it to her, she’s really pulling in the numbers when it comes to the polls. The voters love her grandma- save-the-planet shit. Tom is going to feel the effects of her showing up to support him.”
Carl looked past Mason to where Eric was standing. Mason made a show of appearing to be interested in the live coverage of the campaign. In truth, he was far more interested in why Carl was sweating. It wasn’t that Mason was all too fond of Carl but they were on the same team. Washington was a place where might made right. Miranda Delacroix was an anomaly in their world. Like an albino deer. Sure, it was pretty to look at.
And pretty damn easy for the wolves to spot, too.
She wouldn’t last. Couldn’t last if Mason was going to keep his spot. Mason stretched out his hand and picked up an expertly decorated miniature cupcake. He popped it into his mouth and reached for another before he’d swallowed.
Miranda knew better than to rock the boat. She was a Delacroix after all. He wouldn’t spare a tear over her demise. If you shook the tree, you might get some apples, but one of them might just kill you when it hit you on the head, too.
He enjoyed the second cupcake with a grin as Carl walked toward a private office in the back of the room and Eric disappeared inside with him.
Mason was left licking the frosting off his thumb and chuckling. He wasn’t going to have to lift a finger. Just keep on supporting Carl. It was turning out to be a very lucrative arrangement.
Especially the part where all he had to do was watch Carl deal with the dirty work.
* * *
Eric held up his finger. Carl’s eyes narrowed but he remained silent as his chief of security reached into his suit jacket to withdraw what looked like a double-thick tablet. Eric pressed down on a button, causing a small flashing on the end of the jamming unit. Video and audio would be rendered useless for thirty feet around them.
“Any word from Pullman?” Carl demanded in a hushed tone.
“There is no reason to expect any,” Eric replied. “He was waiting for her to emerge.”
Carl was rubbing his hands together. “Just wait … is that it?”
Eric nodded.
Carl started pacing. Something he’d taken to doing more often as the stress of the election mounted.
“Just … wait while she helps Tom close the gap between us,” Carl exclaimed under his breath. He turned and looked at Eric. “I go down … you go down.”
“The only way you’re going down is if you lose your shit,” Eric replied.
Carl’s eyes bulged. “I made you into what you are, Geyer.”
“I’m pulling my weight in this arrangement,” Eric said. “And I’m going to lose everything if you can’t keep it together. Mason isn’t an idiot.”
Carl fell back a pace. He stood for a long moment before nodding. “You’re … right.” The two words took a lot of effort. Carl’s complexion had darkened but he resumed walking while still nodding. “Mason has his share of dirt on his hands. He won’t talk.”
“Good to know,” Eric stated.
Carl snapped around and pointed at Eric. “You just remember I’m the master here. Get the job done or I’ll find someone who will.”
Carl wasn’t planning on listening to any response Eric might have made. He turned and went toward the door, opening it and striding out.
“Mason … let’s talk about that program of yours … the urban renewal project…”
The door closed, sealing Eric in the room.
Master.
It was an outdated word and yet what stuck in Eric’s throat was the way Carl said it. He believed in the idea 100 percent. Eric moved toward the door and opened it. Carl and Mason were intent on each other as they plotted the best way to entice voters with their ideas. Neither man cared that there were six security men in the private lounge or that those men could hear every word.
Master.
Eric felt the word weighing on him like a yoke. He’d willingly signed on with Carl, willing to traded a piece of his soul for the position of head of Carl’s security during his years in the White House. It was a position that glimmered with a life full of opportunities he wouldn’t get near without shackling himself to someone like Carl Davis.
Well, after Carl departed from the presidency, there would be book deals and interviews and training seminars for Eric. The sort of name recognition celebrities enjoyed.
But it wasn’t free.
Eric had known that. Nothing in life was free. A man had only two choices in life. He could keep his soul and struggle as one of the members of the lower middle class or he could sell his integrity and strap a rocket to his back, one that would raise him up and out of worrying about making his next mortgage payment and watching his retirement funds for miniscule growth.
So, Eric had made his choice. It was a contract signed in blood. Miranda’s would only be the most recent blood to be spilled. There would be more. It was the price of his success.
* * *
Dunn knew her weakness.
Thais circled the tub sitting in the bathroom of the suite she’d wandered into. It wasn’t a copy of the other one. No, Dunn was too creative to be second-guessed.
This tub was copper. It was sealed to keep the color bright and the faucet was constructed to look like pipes. There was a steam-punk feeling to the decoration or maybe an old mining one. She walked around it, trailing her fingers along the rim as she debated allowing herself to think about why he had his different residences furnished with tubs.
Maybe she was being far too presumptuous in assuming they were for her. Any good designer would have listed a tub as a necessity for the lavish decor the suite came with.
She loved it.
But she turned and used the shower instead. It wasn’t a matter of being perverse.
No, it was more about self-preservation. They were circling one another, each giving just a little at a time. If she wasn’t careful, she could lose control and give him access to everything she was. No promises; just open, bare trust.
The idea of it tantalized her.
And it also terrified her.
She stepped out of the shower, almost restless beyond endurance. Wrapping her body in a towel was as far as she got when it came to dressing.
The truth was, she wanted to be naked.
And she wanted Dunn to know it.
Sure about that?
No, she wasn’t but she sat down on a padded bench as she pulled a brush through her hair and avoided making any real decisions while enjoying the sight of the tub.
Was he trying to entice her?
Impress her?
She set the brush aside and realized none of it mattered unless she was willing to toss caution to the wind and act on her impulses. She’d always been the one rejecting him. Her reasons were sound but based on past pain. For the first time, she contemplated just letting it all go in favor of living in the moment.
Standing up, Thais moved toward the tub. She fingered the rim of it as she chewed on her lower lip in indecision.
“I hope you like it.” Dunn’s voice came from the hallway.
She felt awareness of him washing over her. Coming around the tub she caught sight of his form.
“You’
ve been hiding from me,” Thais muttered.
Dunn was still in the doorway, hanging back in that spot where the light didn’t quite cut through the darkness of the hallway.
“And you’re denying yourself an indulgence,” he answered.
She was …
He knew it was her weakness. The real question was, did she really want to take shelter behind her walls?
“Disappointed?” She didn’t really care for the way the word escaped her lips. Any other time, she would have used a tone that made her question sound sultry or suggestive. Tonight, she just sounded needy.
“Yes,” he answered as he crossed into the bathroom. “And then again, no.” He stopped a few paces from her, bracing his feet wide as he crossed his arms over his wide chest and leveled his chin down so he could contemplate her. “If you were in the tub, I think I might not have disturbed you. You don’t indulge yourself very often.”
She’d indulged herself with him …
Heat teased her cheeks. It was flickering all along her skin actually but what drew her attention the most was the blush. Honestly, she’d thought herself far too jaded to do something so simple. There was a sense of excitement that came with it, a simple sensation of awareness of him she’d thought long destroyed by her life’s path.
He noticed the stain on her face. His eyes narrowing as he moved closer and reached out to stroke the surface of her cheek with one hand.
Just a brush of fingertips.
Yet she shuddered.
And let out a frustrated sound as she stepped out of his reach.
“Don’t run.”
Thais froze, realizing he’d called it on the money.
“Sure you won’t thank me for it tomorrow?” It was likely the most honest question she’d ever voiced toward him.
Dunn shrugged. “Maybe. The problem is, that course of action leaves us both facing just how cowardly we both are. It’s not sitting too well with me. How about you?”
Thais felt the impact of his words. Harsh and without mercy, they sliced neatly into her shell.
You’re not alone …
He moved closer, reaching out to stroke her cheek again. “This fascinates me…,” he whispered, his voice rough and husky. “So simple … what the hell am I supposed to do now?”
“Beats me,” she answered truthfully. “We’re both well past simplicity.”
His gaze locked with hers. “Maybe the problem is, we’ve forgotten that simple is often best.”
Thais found herself smiling. “Just … turn back the clock? I don’t think it works that way.”
She felt her heart accelerating. The tile floor was cool against her feet and yet her skin was warm, heating up as anticipation grew inside her. There was no fight left in her, and she realized it was because he’d come to her. She just couldn’t seem to bear the idea of putting up a wall.
“Maybe I’m suggesting we reboot and see if the system recovers.”
It was a tantalizing idea. He knew she liked it, read it off her face as they stood there, so close and yet so very distanced from one another by the realities of life.
Of course, it left her feeling exposed. So very, very bare. His gaze just stripped her down to the person she’d been … once … a very long time ago.
On impulse, she reached up and tugged the edge of the towel that she’d tucked in to hold the terry cloth around her body. It dropped down her body with a little slump. “So let’s hit the power button and kill the system.”
She watched the corners of his mouth twitch up. There was a raw look of lust in his eyes but it was tempered with something else. A hard look of appreciation was there as well, and she realized it was the first time she’d seen it aimed at her.
He pushed her back, enveloping her with his larger form and crowding her back until she felt the wall behind her. He threaded his fingers through the strands of her hair, pulling just tight enough to make her his captive and tilt her head up so he could loom over her.
“I want to take you…,” he muttered, his eyes flashing with intent. “Take what you just offered…”
“Good,” she said with a hiss. Her tone was half challenge and she enjoyed watching the way his eyes narrowed in response.
A moment later he was kissing her. It was hard and demanding, stripping aside her thoughts until all that remained was the need he seemed able to kindle inside her.
She kissed him back but he held her tight, controlling her motions and earning a frustrated sound from her.
His chest rumbled with a chuckle in response. “Easy, baby…”
He framed her head with his hands, trapping her against the wall with his body. Thais wanted to twist against his embrace, wanted to just let the cravings inside her run free.
“I … don’t … want … easy…,” she hissed.
Reaching out, she dug her fingers into the tie he wore. The silk gave easily, and a moment later she smiled as she watched the tie flutter to the floor.
Forgotten.
That was what she wanted, complete and total immersion in the moment. Everything about the rest of the world banished while she indulged, reverted to something she sensed was locked inside her.
Dunn grunted. “Neither do I…”
He pressed her back against the wall, his hand slipping into her hair again and tipping her face up so their gazes locked.
“I want to do things to you … watch you enjoy my touch…” His eyes glittered with hard purpose.
A shiver went down her back. She might have thought to shake her head, deny him so much control but any form of thinking was long gone. Now, she was caught in the grip of impulse and her cravings only cared about one thing.
Being in contact with him.
“I want to make you cum, Thais…” His tone was raspy and thick with promise. “I want it to be just … about you…”
He slid his hand down her body, awakening a thousand little points of pleasure along the way.
Somehow, she’d forgotten just how good it felt to be touched.
“Purr for me, Thais.” He’d leaned close, pressing a kiss against her neck as he stroked her again. “Make those little sounds … for me…”
She couldn’t have silenced herself if she’d wanted to. No, there was just too much pleasure coming from the connection of their skin. She arched, her eyes slipping shut because she wanted to be totally immersed in the feeling of his hand on her.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d let go so very completely.
Dunn made a sound against her neck, a dark, low rumble that set off a shudder inside her. He seemed to know how to rock her very foundation.
And she wanted more.
She shifted but he held her tight, his hand venturing across her belly to her mons. Her eyes opened wide as he plunged his fingers into her slit.
“You don’t want it soft … do you, baby?”
“No.” Her lips were dry as her breath came in short gasps. He was pressing her hard, plunging his thick fingers in and out of her. Her slit was wet, making it simple for him to work her, rubbing her clit until she felt climax rushing toward her.
She didn’t want it so quickly but that was just a weak protest from her mind. Her body was famished for satisfaction, her hips straining up toward his hand as he rubbed her faster, penetrating deeper until she let out a hoarse cry that bounced around the bathroom while she contorted in the moment of pleasure.
It was over too soon. Dropping her back into the cold grasp of reality. She lifted her eyelids to find Dunn watching her. His emerald eyes glittering with satisfaction. They lacked arrogance, though. Leaving her breathless as she tried to decide how to define what they were doing.
Sex?
Intercourse?
Making love?
“Now I’m going to take you to bed, Thais,” he informed her softly before he pressed a kiss against her open mouth.
It was the sweetest kiss she’d ever experienced. A soft meeting of their lips, for once it wasn’t hurried. Dunn
explored her mouth, teasing her tongue with his as he stroked the back of her head. When he lifted his head, she was basking in the glow of the satisfaction he’d given her.
“I’ve thought too many times about carrying you off to my bed.” It was an admission. One that gave her a strange little sensation of intimacy. As though he was trying to share that part of himself that she’d sensed he was hiding.
Dunn didn’t give her time to ponder it though. He scooped her off her feet, cradling her against his chest as he walked through the doorway and on into a hallway. Soft lighting illuminated the floor as he moved.
The bedroom was his.
She realized that when he laid her down and she caught the darker tones of the decor. Mahogany wood, navy, and maroon. She sat up as he stripped.
“Don’t,” he warned her as he dropped his pants. “Don’t move.”
He wanted to control the moment. But there was something different about the need she witnessed glittering in his eyes. She knew only too well what it was like to be viewed as a conquest.
This was something different.
Something she’d shied away from for years, and now, Thais honestly questioned if it was just a trick of her imagination. Something left from her childhood, when Santa was real and people really lived happily ever after.
She knew better.
But so did he.
Just reboot the system and see what they both had when they weren’t trying to be modern humans. What did they have at their cores, deep down inside where feelings were genuine and impossible to design? You just had to take them as they came.
“What are we doing, Dunn?” The question came across her lips as she stood. Sex wasn’t something she broke a sweat over anymore, but just then, her heart was hammering inside her chest. She reached out on impulse and flattened her hand on his chest just over his heart.
“What we both can’t resist any longer.” He held her hand against his chest, watching the way her eyes widened because his heart was beating at the same frantic pace.
“Call it fate,” he said, stepping closer. “Or the universe…” He cupped her shoulders and smoothed his hands along her arms until he closed them around her and drew her tight against him. “Something keeps throwing us together, so let’s discover what there is between us.”
